The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to monitoring systems and, more specifically, to systems and methods for use in monitoring operation of rotor assemblies.
Known machines, such as gas turbines, include rotor assemblies. The rotor assemblies may exhibit vibrations or other behavior during operation. Sensors may be used to monitor such behavior to determine the operational status of one or more components. For example, sensors may measure an amount of vibration induced in a motor drive shaft, a rotational position or displacement of the motor drive shaft, and/or other operational characteristics of a machine or motor. Often, sensors are coupled to a monitoring system that includes a plurality of monitors and at least one processor. The monitoring system receives signals that are representative of measurements sensed from the sensors.
At least some known monitoring systems use vibration sensors to determine the existence of cracks in a component being monitored. However, because vibration sensors may only be able to detect the existence of a crack, and may be unable to pinpoint the location of a crack, at least some known monitoring systems are unable to accurately determine the location of cracks. Moreover, although at least some known monitoring systems use clearance sensors in an effort to determine the location of cracks, because of temperature limitations of the sensors and space limitations within the machine being monitored, at least some of such monitoring systems are unable to monitor an operating (i.e., online) rotor assembly in a gas turbine engine.